Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Facing the breakthrough of Emmanuel Macron, The Republicans want to keep the head cold – Europe1

It is the new opponent to take down. The dynamic created by Emmanuel Macron, who, as early as the day after the primary organized by the PS has started to attract some of the supporters of Manuel Valls, has not escaped to the right, which already installs the idea of a duel Fillon/Macron, and seeks to bring to the former minister, the balance of the current quinquennium. “Mr. Macron, it is necessary to begin to take care of them”, launched by François Baroin, mayor of Troyes, at the great meeting of French prime minister François Fillon, Sunday, at la Villette. The sarkozyste, became strategic advisor to the campaign of the Sarthois, was keen to bring the ex-minister of the Economy in the hands of Fran� �ois Hollande : “It is the last wheel of the rescue of the orphans of the hollandisme”, he said. “Dear Francis, you must save us from the family Macron-Hamon, the family Hacron !”, still has implored the forum Virginie Calmels, deputy Alain Juppé mayor of Bordeaux. “What I see, after the primary organized by the PS, it is a clarification”, is still from Europe 1 Thierry Solère, a spokesman for French prime minister François Fillon. “Macron is now the last representatives of the hollandisme”, he said, after the victory of the former rebellious Benoît Hamon.

“A missile anti-Macron”

Republicans are also seeking to prevent the leakage of potential activists tempted by the adventure of president of the former tenant of Bercy. Last Wednesday, French prime minister François Fillon attended the official launch of DroiteLib', a movement founded by Virginie Calmels. The goal : to provide a concrete support to François Fillon, by aggregating the hires of civil society, a little in the manner of “power up !”. “All the issues are not necessarily addressed in a campaign, it will put in place working groups, and on some of the issues, we will make proposals. We will also begin the project of François Fillon and pedagogy”, described in detail in particular from Europe 1 the elected, landed in politics for only three years after more than twenty years spent in the corporate world.

A tool for in-depth, but not only, because DroiteLib' looks like is also seriously a bulwark against the temptations of a-line moderate that can appeal to the speech of the one who said “neither left nor right”. “A missile anti-Macron”, summarizes mid-word a Republican. Juppéiste, the outcome of the civil society, Virginie Calmels seems particularly designated to talk to the electorate of Emmanuel Macron. Moreover, the applicant itself points to the similarities of course : “to Be in politics for a short time. It comes not from a system, even if it is passed by the ENA and has been a senior civil servant. And then, we are almost of the same age.”

The dynamic Fillon at the stop

It must be said that the momentum created by Emmanuel Macron, in fact, now a candidate of size to worry the right. If in the opinion polls on the presidential election, François Fillon continues to outpace the former adviser of François Hollande, which does not cross the walk the first lap, his lead, however, has begun to pile up. At least that is what reveals the latest survey Kantar Sofres-One Point for Le Figaro, RTL and LCI, made after the controversy over the remuneration affected by Penelope Fillon, and placing the elbow-to-elbow the candidate of the right (22%) and Emmanuel Macron (21%). Taking into account the margin of error, equivalent to 1 point, François Fillon, and Emmanuel Macron swim now “in the same waters”, according to the formula of Edouard Lecerf, director of Political Opinion department of the Kantar Public.

In fact, the phenomenon Macron seduced to the right, and has even begun to erode some support among former politicians. Serge Lepeltier, and Renaud Dutreil, both ex-UMP and former ministers of Jacques Chirac, joined the former protégé of François Hollande in recent weeks. “The chiraquie, historic canal, is behind Macron”, provides the second in Liberation, even if the LinkedIn group he started, “the right with Macron”, does today announced that a quarantine of subscribers. At the end of January, this is Alain Minc, a former supporter of Alain Juppé, who has announced his support to Emmanuel Macron. “I’m going to vote Emmanuel Macron. For a reason : he is the only candidate truly european”, explained the president of SANEF in The Sunday Newspaper. “I regret the result of the primary. If Juppé had won, there would be no Macron. But Macron has it that Napoleon demanded of his generals : talent and luck. The talent he has shown. Lucky, it has all the days”.

a Few “isolated cases” of desertion

For the time being, no baron of the party has not yet crossed the Rubicon. But before the breakthrough of the former adviser to François Hollande, still in the zenith of his popularity, the warnings have multiplied in the entourage of François Fillon, because the leaks could be coming from elsewhere. “Attention, all youth share with Macron”, has launched the mp for the Val-de-Marne Jacques-Alain Bennisti mid-January. “There could be temptations on the evening of the defeat”, wants to qualify Virginie Calmels. “Sometimes, it was their first political engagement. Inevitably, the evening of the second round, there was disappointment. There is also a question : is that all will see automatically on François Fillon ? For the majority, the answer was yes. But there is a minority, not necessarily loose, which was less in the mechanism of the primary and for which this logic does not apply. They were first attached to a person”. For a portion of thes e lost, DroiteLib was able to serve as a container : “they are young people, some the same evening of the defeat [of the second round of the primary, editor's note], who have asked me to start a movement.”

Matthew Ellerbach, a former president of the Young with Juppé, now engaged in the campaign of François Fillon, speaks of a few “isolated cases” of desertion. “On 1.500 support committees, there has been less than ten animators left at Macron”, he says with Europe 1. “After the second round, there has been a disappointment, it is true. But, for me, the source of my commitment it was to the end of the quinquennium of Francois Hollande and the threat of the FN. These two objectives, we can continue with French prime minister François Fillon”, he said, while recalling that, Emmanuel Macron, three months before the election, has not yet unveiled its program.

An electorate too volatile ?

It is upon this point that relies Jean-Pierre Raffarin to target, according to him, the high volatility of the electorate of Emmanuel Macron : “harvest of discontent and likely to electorates that are, between them, are incompatible,” stresses on Europe 1, the former Prime minister of Jacques Chirac. “I’ve already met three or four people parties in Macron, but returned to the right,” says Virginie Calmels. “It is for that dynamic, I believe that it is very fragile. As soon as we talk a little, that there is an argument, it does not, even with contractors. In my opinion, it still attracts a lot of people who don’t know where to go, and who are seduced by the novelty.” “It is a very beautiful marketing operation of non-commitment. It remains unclear, and it is effective”, concludes Jean-Pierre Raffarin. With a program announced for the end of the month of February, there is still a month to Emmanuel Macron to fine-tune a p roject that is able to retain its supporters come from the left… but also right.